Daniel Chi Wing Ho

Achieving Sustainable Urban Renewal in Hong Kong: Strategy for Dilapidation Assessment of High Rises

Approximately 4% of the private buildings in Hong Kong are older than their design lives of 50 years. In addition to the engineer- ing factor, the lack of timely maintenance and proper management has led to a serious problem of building dilapidation in the old urban areas. On account of the high-rise high-density urban setting in Hong Kong, the problem has engendered severe safety and health hazards for the local community. Although different ways of urban renewal or regeneration exist to revitalize the urban environment, it appears that redevel- opment is most frequently used. However, the speed of dilapidation would probably exceed the economys capability of absorbing redevelopments. In addition, redevelopments have detrimental effects on the social fabric and create a large volume of demolition and con- struction waste that greatly surpasses the current landfill capacity in Hong Kong. A sustainable strategy for urban renewal is, therefore, urgently needed. This research aims to establish an existing profile of the building conditions in Hong Kong and evaluate the suitability of various urban renewal strategies for different buildings through the establishment of a structured building assessment scheme called the Dilapidation Index (DI). In total, 393 private residential buildings randomly selected from 4 districts in Hong Kong were assessed by using the DI. The results indicated that the assessed buildings in Sham Shui Po were more problematic than those in other districts. The results also suggested that physical conditions and management factors play nearly equal parts in differentiating the well-performing buildings from the dilapidated ones. The DI developed in this research is beneficial to different parties with an interest in the quality of the urban built environment because it can help people identify problematic buildings for further actions. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444 .0000104.

An empirical study on the positive externality of building refurbishment

Purpose – The papers objective is to empirically study the effects of building refurbishment on the prices of the dwelling units in a contiguous housing estate in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approach – In a congested living environment like Hong Kong, it is difficult, if not impossible, to have a view unobstructed by buildings. As such, the quality of views is dependent on the aesthetic quality of surrounding buildings. It is likely that poorly maintained buildings will impose negative visual effects on their immediate surroundings. Refurbishing these poor buildings should, therefore, reduce or even counter this negative externality. To study the positive externality brought about by building refurbishment, a hedonic price analysis was conducted on a set of panel data consisting of property transactions in a large housing estate located in Pokfulam. This estate was chosen because its adjoining buildings underwent refurbishment in 1998.Findings – The results showed that the refurbishment increased signif...

A "Hong Kong" model of sustainable development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a Coasian interpretation of a model of sustainable development for Hong Kong that incorporates three segments, namely economy, society, and environment.Design/methodology/approach – The approach is analytical, using concepts of property rights informed by Coasian neo‐institutional economics and Yus ideas on the Schumpeterian process in innovation.Findings – First, the sustainable development criteria must be non‐dictatorial, decentralized, and compatible with market economics. The emphasis is contractarian rather than legislative or administrative. Second, the essence of segment cooperation is to create a win‐win situation rather than an “integrated” rent seeking game, which will likely result in more values being created. Third, the requirement that it be progressive over time implies that programs and policies that are duplicative need to be avoided, and innovations are to be encouraged. Fourth, the requirement of satisfying only two aspects of the thre...

Assessing the disability inclusiveness of university buildings in Hong Kong

Tended to view disability inclusion as merely another mandate, building and construction practitioners have yet to recognize its value in social sustainability. In academia, similarly, it has received less attention than other building performance attributes such as environmental friendliness and indoor air quality. With rights to access now acknowledged as basic human rights, there is demand for a tool to assess building disability inclusiveness, indicating the extent to which building considerations include persons with disabilities (PWDs). This paper proposes a Building Inclusiveness Assessment Score (BIAS) to fill the existing gap. The BIAS framework comprises two hierarchies of inclusion attributes identified from literature, guides, and standards of barrier-free access and universal design. The final product consists of two building disability inclusiveness assessment tools: the Physical Disability Inclusion Sub-score (PDIS) and the Visual Impairment Inclusion Sub-score (VIIS). These are simple, quantitative, objective tools for assessing buildings. We performed a Monte Carlo simulation to validate the assessment protocols. Following the validation, we assessed 48 university buildings at four universities in Hong Kong to illustrate the real-life application of the tools.

Principle of Selectivity in Housing Rehabilitation Subsidies: Case Study in Hong Kong

AbstractHousing subsidies have to be selective given the tight public budget and need for public accountability. Nevertheless, inappropriately chosen screening criteria can result in inefficient resource allocation. This article attempts to empirically justify the selection or eligibility criteria of subsidy schemes for housing rehabilitation in Hong Kong where urban decay has been an age-old problem. It outlines the development of a statistical model designed to identify determinants of the dilapidation level of housing in the city. Based on the results of a dilapidation assessment on 390 multiowned apartment buildings using the Dilapidation Index, the extent to which the residential buildings under investigation were dilapidated was regressed against the eligibility criteria. The results revealed that older and unmanaged buildings were more derelict, with the development scale and rateable value correlated to the dilapidation level. The article concludes with policy considerations and practical implicat...

Office rents, mixed-use developments, and agglomeration economies: a panel data analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between office rents and mixed-use development in the context of agglomeration economies. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 10,209 observations in 100 Grade A office buildings in Hong Kong from January 2001 to June 2011, the authors estimated office rent regression using unbalanced panel data analysis. Findings The results show that rents decreased with an increase in distance from retailers and hotels. Furthermore, the results revealed that, ceteris paribus, office tenants were willing to pay higher rents in a mixed-use than in a single-use office development. Research limitations/implications There is an existence of agglomeration economies due to the clustering of various industries in mixed-use developments, which allow for their close proximity to potential clients. Practical implications The diversity of activities in a mixed-use development benefit its tenants and, thus, convince them to pay higher rents. Higher rents generated by a mixed-use facility will attract more investors to it. Investors should seek opportunities to capitalize on their equity in mixed-use developments. Originality/value This paper attempts to uncover a relationship between office rents and mixed-use developments by drawing on the concept of agglomeration economies.

Rapport and its managerial implications in FM service outsourcing relationships

In Hong Kong, client companies tend not to renew contracts with relationship partners and may change facilities management (FM) service providers on a frequent basis. This phenomenon is common in the FM industry. Inspired by the phenomenon of changing service providers, this study sheds light on a social relations perspective in outsourcing relationships and aims to investigate the factors that affect FM service outsourcing relationships. Open interviews with 20 FM managers were conducted, and the interview results were analysed with content analysis and coding methods. The empirical findings were interpreted on two levels. First, FM managers believe that rapport is an influential factor that affects FM service outsourcing relationships. Second, the courses in which the interviewees explain the manifestation of rapport and its significance reveal that common goals, shared values, trust, openness, and coordination are the factors that not only nurture the formation of rapport, but also have significant influences on social relations in the process of outsourcing. A framework has been developed to describe the conceptual relationships found in the empirical findings from the interviews. Eight guidelines have been outlined to indicate the managerial implications of this study.